DANBURY, Conn. - Rookie attackman Cody Suhr (Holbrook, N.Y.) racked up six points on two goals and four assists while graduate student faceoff specialist Jonathan Russack-Baker (Groton, Conn.) won 16-of-19 draws as the Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse squad escaped with an 8-7 Little East Conference victory over visiting Massachusetts Maritime Academy on a windy Saturday afternoon at the Westside Athletic Complex. 

Junior attackman Julian Duque (Mastic, N.Y.) registered a hat trick while graduate student midfielder Benjamin Hawthorne (Manorville, N.Y.) contributed two scoring strikes and one helper for the Wolves. 

Sophomore attackman Daniel Kane (Marshfield, Mass.) and rookie middie Joe Vricella (Medford, N.J.) each tickled the twine twice for the Buccaneers, while freshman Quinn Mucha (Barnstable, Mass.) handed out a trio of assists.

For the contest, shots were nearly even but WestConn dominated the groundballs and faceoff attempts to control the majority of possession time. 

The hosts jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on tallies from Surh, Duque and Hawthorne. The teams traded goals in the second and third quarters before the Wolves stretched the lead to 6-2 when Hawthorne canned his 17th goal of the season. WestConn would enter the fourth with a 7-4 advantage.

They widened the gap to 8-4 when Duque fired home his team-leading 38th marker of the year with 9:59 remaining. However, the Buccaneers kept things interesting and didn't go down without a fight. Kane found the back of the net with 6:42 left to play before Vricella connected with the net with 3:29 remaining. Shortly thereafter, Russack-Baker won yet another faceoff but an illegal procedure call gave the ball back to the visitors. Kane then scored his team-leading 47th goal of the slate, cutting the deficit to 8-7 with just 1:09 on the clock. Mass-Maritime was able to gain possession yet again and got a sharp-angled shot off at the buzzer. But it sailed just wide of the net. 

WestConn senior netminder Brendan Grove (Cheshire, Conn.) earned the win and turned aside 10 shots, while Buccaneer sophomore goalie Eddie Keller (Wilton, Conn.) took the loss and recorded 15 saves. With the win, the Wolves improved to 8-4 overall and 3-1 in league play, while Mass-Maritime dropped to 8-6 and 4-3. 

WestConn returns to action when they host cross-state archrival Eastern Connecticut State University on Wednesday at 7 p.m.